Twiddle

Organ Freeman

Twiddle

With 12 years of relentless touring behind them, Vermont-based rock band Twiddle has built an impressive resume spanning Red Rocks to Bonnaroo, and multiple sellouts of historic rock venues including Port Chester, NY’s Capitol Theatre, and Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club. And with the second half of the band’s third studio album, PLUMP, on the horizon, the band’s career
continues to catapult forward. Buoyed by the generous support of 359 Kickstarter donors, the 27-song album does more than showcase the group’s beautiful music, but also tells an
important story, comprised in PLUMP Chapters 1 & 2.

Recorded during a two-year span with legendary producer Ron St. Germain, PLUMP serves as a reflection of four brothers’ triumphs and struggles, both individual and as a whole. On Chapter 1, songs like “Lost in the Cold” and “Every Soul” detail what it’s like to hit rock bottom and how to rise back up.

“So many fans have shared how these songs carried them through very difficult times, and that alone makes this all worth it,” said Brook Jordan, Twiddle’s percussionist and vocalist.

Comparatively, Chapter 2 contains genre-bending instrumentals, as well as mystifying epics like “Nicodemus Portulay” and “Orlando’s.” More than ten years later, these songs mirror the earliest Twiddle arrangements of 2004-2005 when Mihali Savoulidis and Ryan Dempsey were collaborating in their freshmen dorms at Castleton State College. The completion of PLUMP is timely, coming at a moment when the band’s fervent fan base is at an all-time high and
expanding rapidly.

In the live setting, more and more people are invigorated by Twiddle’s community, promoting positivity and the band’s skillful improvisational music. So many like-minded people believe in
the greater good, and they find that good in Twiddle.

Twiddle is comprised of Zdenek Gubb on bass and vocals, Ryan Dempsey on keyboards and vocals, Mihali Savoulidis on guitar and lead vocals, and Brook Jordan on percussion and vocals.

A more detailed biography of each band member, along with upcoming tour dates and updates,
can be found at TwiddleMusic.com.
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2007 manifested Twiddle’s debut release, The Natural Evolution of Consciousness. This breakout album showcased the band’s eclectic inspirations, imaginative lyrical abilities, and
superb instrumentation. Twiddle’s sophomore production, Somewhere on the Mountain (2011), delves into the human spirit, speaking to our ambition, grief, and love. Live at Nectar’s (2014), is
a double disc live album recorded in August of 2013 at Burlington, Vermont’s Nectar’s. Live at Nectar’s truly captures Twiddle in its element, the live experience.

Organ Freeman

Like many bands comprised of tight-laced musicianship, Organ Freeman emerged from the Hollywood music scene wasting no time. Steer explains that the group “initially formed the group as more of an opportunity to experiment than a serious project while we were all students, and continued on as a creative outlet while we all played out as freelance musicians. It wasn’t until years later when we were presented with the chance to do a record that the band sort of morphed into what it is today.”
That record was a self-titled collection, released at the end of 2015. The full process of recording the album wound up taking six months, due to the band members’ busy schedules. Carlson was working in Las Vegas full time, and “would drive back to Los Angeles, only on Tuesdays, to work on the record.” Talk about dedication!
There’s this undeniable synergy that takes hold when you put on the Organ Freeman debut album. From one funk groove to the next, it’s a toe-tapping odyssey from start to finish. The band’s influences belie their sound, as they cite the tightest of groovers. James Brown, Soulive, Snarky Puppy, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Smith, D’Angelo are all mentioned at the drop of a hat, showcasing this band’s pure devotion to that in-the-pocket jam.
Carlson takes us through what it’s like to write an Organ Freeman tune, saying that he and Steer “get together and form some harmonic and melodic idea. Trevor is more straight ahead funk type stuff whereas I like a lot more modern jazz, so he often has to reign me in. Then Rob comes in and seems to have a phenomenal idea to clean up our mess every time. He has a great mind for polishing a pre-existing idea.” Carlson concludes that “writing with Trevor and Rob has taught me a lot and has fostered some musical maturity.”
For fans of the Organ Freeman funk, fear not. The band also has a new record in the works, one that will be out “by early 2017” if all goes to plan.
“Playing new material live is a big part of our tweaking process, so we’ll be using whatever opportunities we have to try out the new tunes,” explains Steer. “Overall, stylistically, the record will definitely fit in with the first record, but we have gotten better and more meticulous about our sounds and our arrangement.”
The future is bright for Organ Freeman, as they continue to turn heads in a big way. As more artists and fans take note of the band’s style, there’s no limit to their potential.
Organ Freeman is an organ trio consisting of; Trevor Steer - Organ, Rob Humphreys - Drums and Erik Carlson - guitars.